Financial aid funds are awarded on the assumption that students will attend for the full loan payment period. If a student ceases attendance prior to the planned end date, the student may not be eligible for the full amount of loan funds. The University of Derby is required by federal regulations to recalculate federal financial aid eligibility for students who withdraw, drop out, are dismissed, or take a leave of absence prior to completion of the payment period.

No return of funds to the federal aid programme is required if a student withdraws within a time equating to 60% or more of the payment period, as the student is then considered to have earned that period’s loan funds. Pro-rata refund calculations apply for any student in receipt of financial aid who withdraws within a time equal to less than 60% of the payment period.

If a student did not receive a disbursement of federal aid funds at the beginning of a disbursement period and subsequently withdraws, the amount of funds that the student has earned will be calculated and offered as a post-withdrawal disbursement (PWD). Students who do not attend at least one class are ineligible for financial aid and all funds will be returned to the federal aid programme.

Within 30 days of the date of withdrawal, the institution will perform the return to Title IV calculation and notify the student of any loans overpayment or PWD due. Within 45 days of the date of withdrawal, the institution will return any funds due to the financial aid programme. Within 180 days of the date of withdrawal, the institution will make any PWD due to the student (or parent in the case of a Parent PLUS loan).

Notifications

We will inform withdrawn students in writing of the amount the institution is obliged to return to the federal aid programme, the amount (if any) that the student needs to pay to the institution and the amount (if any) that is due to be refunded to the student by the institution.

Withdrawal dates

Institutions must have a procedure in place to determine whether a Title IV recipient who began attendance during a payment period completed the period or should be treated as a withdrawal. The University will use the most accurate information available to determine a student’s withdrawal date.

Official withdrawals. Where a student submits a formal written request to withdraw from the course, the date of this written request will be taken as the final date of attendance for the purposes of calculating the earned and unearned amounts of Title IV funds.

Unofficial withdrawals. Where no formal written withdrawal is received, the date of the student’s last recorded attendance in class will be taken as the final date of attendance for the purposes of calculating the earned and unearned amounts of Title IV funds. Attendance is checked on a weekly basis.

Failing your course

In the event a student receives all failing grades for a semester, we will contact the college to determine if the failed grades were earned or represent a lack of attendance. In the event it is determined that those grades were the result of lack of attendance we will attempt to determine the last day of attendance and use that date in the R2T4 calculations. Students who do not attend even one class are ineligible for Title IV funds and all of the loan proceeds will be returned to the lender.

Calculation used to determine unearned loan amounts for return

Refunds returned to the financial aid programme are allocated in the following order:

Unsubsidised loan

Subsidised loan

Direct PLUS loan

Recalculation is based on the percentage of earned aid using the following formula:

Percentage of payment period or term completed = the number of days completed up to the withdrawal date divided by the total days in the payment period or term. (Any break of five days or more is not counted as part of the days in the term.) This percentage is also the percentage of earned aid.

Funds are returned to the US Department of Education based on the percentage of unearned aid using the following formula:

Aid to be returned = (100% of the aid that could be disbursed minus the percentage of earned aid) multiplied by the total amount of aid that could have been disbursed during the payment period or term.

Example: Undergraduate Student Periods

Loan disbursement Date

Relevant Period

Number of Study Days

Disbursement 1 - 19/10/2016

26/9/2016 -20/12/16

86

Disbursement 2 - 18/1/2017

04/01/2017 – 07/04/2017

94

Disbursement 3 - 20/4/2017

24/04/2016 - 07/07/2017

75

An undergraduate student starts their course on 26/09/2017 but withdraws on 11/11/2016. They have completed 47 days of the 86 day relevant period and has earned 55% of their federal aid disbursement. If the student received £2500 in federal aid the University must return 45% of this amount, equalling £1,125, to the lender. This would be charged as a debt against the student account.

Note: If the student had instead withdrawn on 28/11/2016 they would have completed 57 days of the relevant 86 day period and earned 65% of their federal aid. As this exceeds 60%, they have a 100% entitlement to federal aid for that period and no Title IV refund would be required.

Example: Postgraduate Student Periods

Postgraduate cheques are released termly but cover the periods below.

Loan Disbursement Date

Relevant Period (52 Weeks = 365 days)

Study Days

Disbursement 1

26/09/2016 – 31/12/2016

97

Disbursement 2

01/01/2017 – 31/03/2017

90

Disbursement 3

01/04/2017 – 25/09/2017

178

Postgraduate student starts their course on 26/09/2016 but withdraws on 14/11/2015. They have completed 50 days of the 97 day relevant period and has earned 50% of his federal aid disbursement. If the student received £4000 in federal aid the University must return 50% of this amount, equalling £2000, to the lender. This would be charged as a debt against the student account.

Note: If the student had withdrawn on 07/12/2016, they would have completed 68 days of the relevant 97 period and earned 75% of their federal aid. As this exceeds 60%, they have a 100% entitlement to federal aid for that period and no Title IV refund would be required.

Leave of Absence

A student may take a leave of absence during their period of study, provided the leave is formally requested and approved, the reason for the request is stated and the leave of no more than 180 days’ duration in a 12-month period. There must be a reasonable expectation that the student will return from the period of absence. The leave of absence withdrawal date is the last date of attendance. Leave of absence students retain ‘in-school’ status. Students must be warned about the effects on their loans repayment grace period if they do not return from the leave of absence.